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Ryan and other GOP Reps to vote for DACA extension

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump is expected to announce that he will do away with the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which was an executive order by Barack Obama to give work permits and delayed deportation to illegal immigrants who came to America as minors. On the same day, the House of Representatives may also vote to make DACA the law of the land and extend its life, thus opening a chasm between Republicans and the Trump administration and its supporters.

The so-called BRIDGE Act (HR 496) is expected to pass the Senate.

However, in order to win the day in the House of Representatives, the BRIDGE Act must receive 23 Republican votes. So far, 13 Republicans have co-sponsored the bill and are thus expected to vote in its favor. To pass, the BRIDGE Act would need only 10 more Republican votes.

Republicans who are likely to vote in favor of the BRIDGE Act are those who are not yet co-sponsors of the bill, but voted against defunding DACA in 2015; there were 13 of them. While there are three of these Republicans who were not in office at that time and thus did not vote on DACA, their predecessors did vote against defunding DACA in 2015; those three may vote in favor of the BRIDGE Act. There are also two Republicans (of whom one if House Speaker Paul Ryan) who have stated publicly that Trump should not repeal DACA.

Here follows a list of 18 Republicans who may vote in favor to extend DACA:

The so-called BRIDGE Act was sponsored by Republican Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado. The BRIDGE Act currently has just 12 Republican co-sponsors. Among them are Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan, David Reichart of Washington, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. If it comes to the floor for a vote, it could pass if 23 Republicans cross the aisle and join Coffman and join the Democrats. The Dems are expected to uniformly endorse the bill. The BRIDGE Act would not only make DACA into federal law, it would also extend its life for three years. Last week, Coffman said that he will use procedural maneuvers to force a vote on the Bridge Act if Trump seeks to terminate DACA. The vote is expected to occur on Tuesday, and Coffman believes the BRIDGE Act has enough support to pass.